It's dawn.

The fighting on both sides of the river has not completely subsided, and the land is full of red and white ice and snow mixed with blood.

When Lu Wan's Chinese army arrived, the Ming soldiers almost slaughtered the tribesmen of Duoyan and Taining, and left no cattle, sheep and livestock of these tribes.

Zhang Heling's face was tense, his face was covered with ice and snow, only two nostrils still had a little heat, he walked out a few steps, and his feet suddenly fell into the water, and he realized that he was actually standing on the ice of Huangshui.

"Shou Ninghou, are you okay?"

The generals next to him hurriedly supported him.

"What about Governor Lu? Where are the others? "In the previous battle, the ranks were scattered.

Even Zhang Heling, who had never been on the battlefield seriously, felt that last night's killing was completely disorderly.

The general said: "Lord Lu has led his troops to the north, to ambush the soldiers and horses on the other road, only more than 10,000 people were left on the river bank to clean up the mess, and more than 3,000 people were captured, but a group escaped and killed a group...... Now there are not even six hundred. ”

"Why did you escape?" Zhang Heling frowned.

At this time, Zhang Yong also crossed the ice and came to the south bank of Huangshui, he saw Zhang Heling, he was not so flustered to find Lu Wan, he was the same as Zhang Heling, he seemed to be leading the troops, but in fact, he would not rush to the front at a critical time.

"Shou Ninghou, let's evacuate quickly! From here to the east, there were men and horses of the Chahar tribe, and the men of Uliangha who had fled went in all directions, and this road was difficult to walk, and there was no way to pursue them. ”

Zhang Yong came to urge Zhang Heling to prepare to lead his troops to retreat eastward.

Zhang Heling said: "Didn't that Governor Lu still lead his troops north?" Don't wait? ”

"The errand is different! They are going to stop the Tartars from retreating eastward, what does it have to do with us? Let's clean up the mess and quickly retreat, from here back to Shenyang Zhongwei is estimated to not be able to go back for ten days or eight days, we have gone deep into the hinterland of the grassland! Zhang Yong sighed.

Zhang Heling was full of excitement and asked: "Old Zhang, is we far away from the boundary of the Ming Dynasty, or is Weininghai far away from the boundary of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

Zhang Yongdao: "Of course, it's far from here. At least there are 400 miles, and Weininghai is only 200 miles away from Datong......"

"I'm an old lady, saying that you pit Lao Tzu, you really know how to pit, Lao Tzu hasn't seen Tartar all the way, and I thought I was still wandering around the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and my feelings let Lao Tzu go to the rear of the Tartar to send him to death? Hurry up, hurry up, go away! ”

Zhang Heling was stunned when he heard it.

At the beginning of the march, because there was no snow and the road was not very rushed, Zhang Heling had horses to change, and he still felt good.

In the past two days, he has been busy chasing, and he is suffering at the limit of his body, and he doesn't care how far he has run, and now he knows...... It turned out that I went deeper into the grassland this time than Wang Shouren and Ma Yi, and it was farther away from the pass where the Ming Dynasty was garrisoned...... I was literally tricked into getting on a thief ship!

As soon as Zhang Yong saw Zhang Heling's cowardice, he suddenly understood why Lu Wan and Wang Xian led their troops to fight with Duoyan Sanwei on the other road, so why they didn't bring him.

Probably like Zhang Heling, even if he is a chief soldier, he is only suitable for cleaning up the mess.

"Shouning Hou doesn't have to be frightened, there are forty or fifty thousand soldiers and horses in the Ming Dynasty, and they fought last night, even if they fled the Tartars, they can't judge the number of soldiers and horses of our three armies, unless the little prince of Tatar is here in person, otherwise the general tribe we don't have to be afraid. After cleaning up, the three armies will retreat first, walk 50 miles away, and then camp to rest. The river here is narrow and the water flow is rapid, and the river is not completely frozen, so it is not suitable for garrisons. ”

"Let's go!"

Zhang Heling couldn't help but say that he just wanted to hurry back to Daming now.

Even now he was tired, but thinking that he was in danger, he would rather take a nap on horseback than stay a little more dangerous.

……

……

The first ambush battle, which crossed the north and south banks of Huangshui, was fought almost without flaws.

But after the end of the first battle, when I wanted to go north to wrap up Fuyu, Duoyan and other people who were going by different routes, I could only chase a tail.

"Lu Zhongcheng, I can't chase it anymore."

Wang Xian, as the coach of the other way, saw Lu Wan, who had just come over.

From last night to now, Lu Wan's group of men and horses are the most tired, but they have not received many combat achievements, and the big credit has basically been taken up by Wang Xian's ambush along the way.

Wang Xian pointed to the messy scene along the road in the distance, and said: "When the Tartars withdrew, they threw away everything that could be discarded, just to avoid the annihilation of the whole army, if you chase it any further, it will be easy to encounter the main force of the Tartars!" ”

Lu Wan said: "Is it just a few dozen miles away?" ”

Wang Xian sighed: "There are no more people and horses in ambush ahead, and if you go further, there will be more changes on the road, and there will be more people and horses from the tribe of the Tartars." If it's a good day, it's okay to push it all the way, but our number of men and artillery doesn't allow it. ”

"Report ......"

A herald brought news.

"Speak!" Lu Jingjing didn't seem to be tired at all.

In comparison, the men and horses led by Wang Xian are even more tired.

"Sixty-two Tatar prisoners were captured, and more than 3,000 cattle and sheep were captured."

"Take it away!"

Lu Wan also had to bow his head now.

When they came from the southern front, Fuyu and Duoyan had already passed about sixty or seventy miles, and there was no sign of chasing them for a while, and there were abandoned cattle, sheep and goods along the way.

Lu Wan said with regret on his face: "This time I sent troops, I failed to destroy the Duoyan Sanwei once, which is really a great regret in my heart." ”

Wang Xian said: "It's very good. ”

Lu Wan turned his head and glared at Wang Xian, although the tactics were completed by the two sides together, but the main credit for killing the enemy was in the ambush along the way, and the 40,000 soldiers and horses brought by him Lu Wan for a long journey were the most tossed.

And Wang Xian was a cavalryman all the way, and Lu Wan was dragging all kinds of sub-cannons three or four hundred catties away.

Peng Quan rode over and said nervously: "The two lords, they have already sent spies to investigate, and the Tartars have traveled nearly a hundred miles to the west, and at the current speed of the army, it will only take two or three days to catch up." ”

Wang Xian said: "Withdraw." ”

Peng Quan asked, "Do you withdraw in the direction of Daning, or do you want to go to Shenyang?" ”

This brings us to the problem.

Wang Xian and Peng Quan came from Jizhou, that is, from the southern route.

Lu Wan came from the Eastern Front, that is, Shenyang Zhongwei in Liaodong.

Before Wang Xian could answer, Lu Wan on this side said resolutely: "If you go south to Daning, although the road is much closer, you may encounter the main force of the Tatars, although the road to the east is a hundred miles long, but the people and horses of the two sides take care of each other, and the Tatars do not dare to attack directly." ”

On the issue of withdrawing troops, Lu Wan still has enough right to speak.

It seems that Wang Xian and he each brought a group of people.

But Wang Xian was just a temporary general, just like Wang Shouren, who led the troops into Weininghai at that time, he had the power to lead the troops but did not have a high official position.

Lu Wan is the governor of Liaodong, and in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Lu Wan can be said to be the highest military and political governor in Liaodong.

Moreover, Lu Wan also proceeded from the actual situation to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of going south and going east.

Peng Quan just looked at Wang Xian, he came with Wang Xian, in the hearts of the soldiers, who leads the troops and who is responsible for the overall deployment, it is still clear, and he must listen to his direct superiors when he listens to orders.

Wang Xian said: "What Lu Zhongcheng said is extremely true, if you go south, it is easy to set up ambushes and intercept Tatars along the way, and even if the road is close, it is easy to outflank the main Tatar force." Although it was a long way to the east, it was extremely difficult for the Tatars to outflank them, and the two sides were marching in a straight line, and the Tartars had little chance of catching up. ”

The road is near, but for the Tatar pursuit, the road is also close.

And you can also wrap clips from the south side.

To the east, it was the territory of the former Duoyan Sanwei, and the Tatars wanted to chase it from the west.

Originally, it was the men and horses of the Ming Dynasty who were chasing Duoyan Sanwei, but if the main force of Dayan Khan came, it would become their army chasing the Ming Dynasty, and it was naturally the safest to go in a straight line.

"Tell the three armies, go east! Rest after dark! ”

Lu Wan also knew that the soldiers in the army had reached the limit of their physical strength, but they couldn't rest yet.

It was also necessary to wait for the battlefield area to reach an area where the terrain was relatively easy to resist the Tatar attack, and then rest.

……

……

The army of the Ming Dynasty entered the grassland by two roads, and the troops out of the grassland converged into one road.

After noon, the soldiers really couldn't walk, especially those infantry who walked on two legs, even if the wind and snow had stopped at this time, but there was a lot of snow on the road, and even the road could not be distinguished, and the gray and dark sky was connected to the white grassland, and they could only go forward according to one direction, what the road ahead was, only the people and horses in charge of opening the road in front knew it, and the back were walking according to the ruts and footprints of the road in front.

Lu Wan saw that the soldiers could no longer march, so he could only order the three armies to be stationed, in this weather, it was difficult to even make a fire to make rice, but fortunately, the army also brought firewood and charcoal, etc., and after barely lighting a fire, he could finally eat a mouthful of hot soup and hot rice.

Inside the big tent of the Chinese army.

Lu Wan took off his official uniform, which was almost frozen by ice water, as a civilian official with the army, he would not wear armor all the way.

There was a big snow outside, but because of the heavy wind and snow last night, and the tossing along the way, when I took off my clothes, I found that the official uniforms inside were covered with a layer of ice.

"The water is frozen!"

Wang Xian took Ma Yongcheng into the tent, and Ma Yongcheng wanted to drink saliva, but found that the water in the leather bag had already frozen.

Wang Xian said: "The soldiers outside have already begun to chew snow water, and if they walk like this, they don't know how many will fall by the time it gets dark." ”

"Report ...... The men and horses of General Zhang's military headquarters are already five miles to the south, and the vanguard men and horses have entered the camp to rendezvous......"

The men and horses led by Zhang Heling and Zhang Yong to clean up the mess converged with the main force.

After waiting for a long time, Zhang Heling and Zhang Yong also appeared in the big tent of the Chinese army, at this time, in addition to Peng Quan, who was still in charge of leading the cavalry to patrol, the remaining bigwigs gathered in a tent.

Ma Yongcheng asked Zhang Yongdao, who had just come in, with an excited face: "How many heads and prisoners are there?" ”

Zhang Heling scolded and said, "Are you embarrassed to ask?" The riverbank is full of half of the body without a head, the flesh and blood are blurred, you are also greedy, and you refuse to even keep a head? ”

Ma Yongcheng's face was embarrassed.

After the battle ended last night, Wang Xian and Peng Quan's ambushed men and horses were afraid that Lu Wan's pursuing men and horses would steal the merits, so they first swept around the battlefield, cut off all the heads that could be cut, tied them to their horses, and then went to pursue.

This made Zhang Heling and the others, who had cleaned up the battlefield, only able to accept the previous prisoners, and it was difficult to find a first-level mixed credit.

Wang Xian said: "There are about more than 1,600 heads taken away, not counting the ones that were blown up, but there are also intact ears that have been cut off." Not the left and right ears, but both ears. ”

Zhang Heling sat down, grabbed the freshly boiled water, wanted to drink it but found it very hot, and was still scolding: "Those ears are not all the same? Do you have to make a pair? Are you looking for ears all over the ground? Da Ming doesn't have such rules. ”

The most depressed is Zhang Heling.

But in fact, he is the lightest.

As the chief officer and the leader of the troops, he has nothing to do with charging on the battlefield, and there are so many complaints about cleaning up the battlefield, but after a war, Zhang Heling's inner growth is also the smallest, because others are very clear that they are here for military merits...... Zhang Heling is still not going back to what he is doing.

I feel like I'm being tossed around, it's nothing for me to fight, I clean up the battlefield and find that my head has been cut off, and I grabbed a bunch of prisoners and ran away a lot.

What's the point of tossing and turning for so many days?

Zhang Heling is about to doubt life.

Lu Wan said: "Summarizing here, there are about more than three hundred first-class achievements. Whether it adds up to two thousand or not, it will be counted again. As for the captives, quite a few were captured before...... Some were directly killed, and some of them were inconvenient for the old and weak to take away, and it is estimated that they would also be killed...... If you get up, there are about four or five hundred more prisoners......"

Ma Yongcheng said happily: "It's good, it's more than 2,000 military exploits." ”

Lu Wan's face was grim and said: "It's just that compared to the loss of several battles in the Ming Dynasty before, this battle, Liaodong tossed so much, but the credit obtained is disappointing." ”

Let's just say, the main task of sending troops is our Liaodong, and your people and horses in Jizhou are just setting up ambushes, and their heads are all taken away by you, and the prisoners are also captured by you.

On the battlefield, the two sides did not cooperate very sincerely, but now after the war, the resentment is even deeper.

Wang Xian said: "What is Lu Zhongcheng talking about? This battle is won by both of us, without distinction between the other. ”

Zhang Heling was annoyed when he heard this, and scolded: "Then you still cut off all the heads that can be chopped off?" Don't even spare the ears on the crippled head? How do you play it? ”

Ma Yongcheng asked, "Has the credit been played?" ”

Lu Wan shook his head and sighed: "From here to the south, it is still two hundred miles away to Daning, and it is more than four hundred miles to return to Daming Pass from the old site of Daning. ”

"Two hundred plus four hundred......," Zhang Heling suddenly thought of something, and asked, "How many miles have we been in the grassland now?" ”

Zhang Yong told him before that it was about 400 miles out of the grassland, which made him feel that he had been cheated, but now the conversation between this group of people made him realize that it was not only those 400 miles.

Wang Xian said: "This place is about seven or eight hundred miles away from Shenyang Zhongwei......

"How much?"

Zhang Heling stood up with a snort.

Wang Xian frowned and said: "Shouning Hou, you have been walking for so many days after you got out of the fortress, almost day and night, don't you even know how far you have walked?" ”

Zhang Heling said with an annoyed face: "After leaving the pass, everywhere is so desolate, except for the grass is the mountain, how can I know how far I have walked?" ”

Lu Wan was too lazy to care about Zhang Heling, in order to prevent Zhang Heling from making trouble for him, they could travel more than 100 miles a day, and he also told Zhang Heling that he only walked 50 or 60 miles...... Anyway, Zhang Heling doesn't have any concept of distance, and his request for Zhang Heling is just not to make trouble for himself.

"The immediate priority is to get out of the way." Lu Wan said, "Everyone, when you take credit, I also hope that you can show mercy." ”

The muscles on Wang Xian's face moved.

Now Lu Wan is putting pressure on him.

Although Wang Xian, like Lu Wan, had no actual experience in leading troops before, this time he achieved a credit that was difficult for others to achieve, and said that he would just let it out...... Who serves?

Whether it is Lu Wan or Wang Xian, they are not the kind of people who are easy to get along with, and both of them can later achieve the position of the secretary of the military department, and they must have their own unique side in governing the army, and safeguarding the interests of their own department is also the demeanor that a general should have.

……

……

"Lord Wang, you heard Lord Lu's words just now, what does he mean?"

Out of the tent of the Chinese army, Wang Xian took Ma Yongcheng to his camp.

Wang Xian said: "Gonggong Ma, you don't understand this? On the Liaodong side, they dislike that their credit is too small, and they feel that their contribution is not less than ours. Even more than us. ”

Ma Yongcheng frowned and said, "What's the use of having more of them?" The things that were fought on the battlefield, but we completed it, don't look at how many people and horses have been lost on our side? They're just picking up the bargains. ”

"You can't say that." Wang Xian actually has a headache too.

When you come, you can divide your troops, you can't see each other, and there are not so many things to collude with.

But now when the troops are withdrawn, the trouble comes, and the big trouble is that people have to bow their heads under the roof...... Who made Lu Wan's side strong and strong, with 37,000 men and horses, and less than 4,000 cavalry on his side?

The direction of withdrawal is not to Jizhou, but to the hinterland of Liaodong in the east.

After this passed, for the sake of some credit, there was an internal fight......

"Father-in-law Ma, no matter how Lu Zhongcheng reports it, our own report can't be less, and when we go back to see the supervision of Liaodong, we don't have to be polite to them, it's always our ...... There is no basis for words, but it still depends on where the head is. ”

Wang Xian nominally softened Lu Wan, but secretly he couldn't give up.

Ma Yongcheng asked, "What if they rob us?" ”

"It's not enough on the grassland, but if you enter the pass, there will be a saying! We can't wait for the soldiers in Liaodong to go back to report the news, send people in advance, and send more people back to Beijing first under the pretext of spying on the military situation...... That's all there is to it. ”

Wang Xian looked at the gray sky in the south, and his face was full of emotion.

"The most important thing right now is to get out of the way. And in my opinion, the all-powerful Zhang Shilang in the court will definitely be able to calculate what we have experienced and pave the way for us. The matter of military merit is now worried about the futile. ”

(End of chapter)